Welcome to the trust deed forum teddybear581.

Your son will need to check this with his trustee, but I'd expect the extra two years (in lieu of equity) will probably not be necessary if the equity in the house has already been realised.

His trust deed can end sooner than the legal minimum of four years if the total amount he has paid covers all of the following:

1 - The full debt owed at the start of the trust deed.

2 - Interest on those debts.

3 - The fees and costs of his trustee.

Unfortunately this is likely to add up to a fair bit more than the original debt total.

He could contact his trustee to get an estimate of how much this total figure will be and whether it's realistic that he can finish before four years.

I agree - assuming the extra 2 years were solely in respect of the equity and didn't add up to more than the £20000 that has been realised then I don't see any justification for the trustee still seeking those extra payments.

than you for the replies. He has been trying to get an answer from the TD company and all they say is dont worry we will see to it ,but not actualy say anything concrete. They are not the easiest company to correspond with. For example he asked for the total figure he would need to pay to them to close the TD.All they came back with is it would be "total, plus fees plus interest",which we already know. I dont see whats so hard about telling him an actual figure,(we have come into some money and would ,if possible ,pay it off)

These are perfectly reasonable questions to ask teddybear581 and your son is paying thousands of pounds in fees so should be able to expect answers within a reasonable period in time.

It might be worth putting it all in writing to your son's trustee personally.

If that doesn't generate a response then your son might want to consider making a complaint. This sometimes delivers the advantage that someone more senior and with more autonomy gets involved.

The minimum timescale for a Trust Deed (unless debts are paid in full etc) is 48 months. If the Trust Deed was being extended for equity to be paid over and this has now happened via a sale then I can't see why the Trust Deed needs to run past the 48 months.

As TDA has advised it's probably time to correspond in writing and if you don't receive a response to escalate it as a complaint.

my son received this as a settlement figure....
Fixed fee Due
2,500.00
Realisation fee due
6,785.69
20% of Cont + 20% HER received
Outlays & Expenses due
1,027.20
Expenses paid
-1,746.87
Less: Trustee fees taken
-7,380.69
Total
1,185.33
Balance in acc
1333.12
Dividend paid
13954.16
Amount due to clear in full
18317.96 (This amount does not incude the comanies interest as they are going to ask the companies if they would waive that if he closes the TD now)
am I reading this right that they have taken an extra 20% in fees because he paid the money from the house sale? ie what does "20% of Cont + 20% HER received" mean? sorry if I have read it wrong.

Hi teddybear581.

It's common for trust deed fees to be based, in part, on a percentage of collections.

Your son will have agreed to the fee structure when his trust deed started and the documentation he'll have received at the time should evidence exactly what was agreed.

thanks TDA,Just seems a lot of money to take from someone who is already in debt, but as you say he will have agreed to it ,not really thinking of the consequences. It just means we wont be able to pay it off.boo!!!! x

How much debt was owed at the start of the Trust Deed, teddybear581?

it was £32500

OK, that does look about right then. Protected Trust Deeds aren't really designed with circumstances in mind where full repayment turns out to be possible and is rarely the best route where this is expected.

Unfortunately in those few cases where full repayment is not expected but then circumstances dictate differently, such as in your son's case, then they can turn out to be expensive.

Thanks Kevin. It was only because his share of the house sale far exceeded anyones expectation. It was only estimated in the TD to be £5000 but ended up being £20000 which would ahve paid off most of his debt,so In hindsight a TD was not the best way to go. We have conatcted the company and they are going to reduce their fees by £1000 which is going to help . thanks everyone for heir help x